Good and bad chemical smells, list yours

[EL]

does anyone know what that smell is when you open a new packet of dry roasted peanuts? it`s enough to stop you eating them if not done outdoors at arms length! LOL

Butyric and Valeric acids, ouch, they smell horrible.

[YT2095]

Butyric acid I can attest to as being mega gross! can`t say I`ve ever had a whiff of Valeric acid though?

 

I`m only guessing as I`ve not looked it up yet, is that the same acid that gives Vallerian it`s smell when in flower?

I have a Vallerian plant and the flower smell can only be described as Very Strong ground white pepper. it`s not at all unpleasant, but can be very overpowering at quite some distance in full sun.

[woelen]

Butyric acid I can attest to as being mega gross! can`t say I`ve ever had a whiff of Valeric acid though?

 

I`m only guessing as I`ve not looked it up yet' date=' is that the same acid that gives Vallerian it`s smell when in flower?

I have a Vallerian plant and the flower smell can only be described as Very Strong ground white pepper. it`s not at all unpleasant, but can be very overpowering at quite some distance in full sun.[/quote']

Take some old cheese and some socks, worn for several days in tight shoes. Wrap up both of them in a plastic bag and keep the closed bag at a warm place for several days. Then sniff the contents of the bag. This is close to the smell of valeric acid (CH3CH2CH2CH2COOH) .

[latentheat]

Butyric and Valeric acids, ouch, they smell horrible.

 

I take valeric acid (IUPAC name = pentanoic acid), as a sleep aid. I take it in the form of a tea that has valerian root extract in it. It really seems to work.

[YT2095]

aha, so my guess was right then (not bad eh!).

 

IIRC the same smell/acid is pressent in some cheeses too? yes/no?

[jdurg]

butyric acid has that lovely smell of rotted butter. Blech!

[woelen]

I take valeric acid (IUPAC name = pentanoic acid), as a sleep aid. I take it in the form of a tea that has valerian root extract in it. It really seems to work.

Are you sure that is valeric acid . Isn't it an ester of valeric acid? If I had to drink tea with some valeric acid in it, I probably would have to vomit because of the really disgusting smell (and probably also taste).

[latentheat]

Are you sure that is valeric acid . Isn't it an ester of valeric acid? If I had to drink tea with some valeric acid in it, I probably would have to vomit because of the really [/i'] disgusting smell (and probably also taste).

 

Perhaps it's present in such small quantities that you can't really smell it or taste it. Also, the taste/smell of it is likely masked pretty well by the lemongrass that is also present in this tea (which tastes very good). I doubt there's more than 15 mg of valeric acid in each tea bag. I actually think the roots of the valerian plant may also contain some esters of valeric acid in addition to the acid itself. I'd have to look it up.

 

I think some of the herbal pills that have a stronger effect than the tea contain potassium valerate as the active ingredient

 

I have been wondering about what it does in the body to make a person sleepy.

[ThermiteMan]

By the way Latentheat aggreing with Woelen, that stuff stinks. do you seem to remember the time recently when i was over your house saying i wanted to hurl and tear my nose off. it is a very bad undescribable smell. NEVER DRINK VALERIAN TEA. it stinks and doesnt have such a pleasant taste either... it will put you to sleep but at the cost of all the bile you just threw up in the toilet (just kidding)

[EL]

Butyric acid I can attest to as being mega gross! can`t say I`ve ever had a whiff of Valeric acid though?

 

I`m only guessing as I`ve not looked it up yet' date=' is that the same acid that gives Vallerian it`s smell when in flower?

I have a Vallerian plant and the flower smell can only be described as Very Strong ground white pepper. it`s not at all unpleasant, but can be very overpowering at quite some distance in full sun.[/quote']

 

The chemical composition of valerian includes sesquiterpenes of the volatile oil (including valeric acid), iridoids (valepotriates), alkaloids, furanofuran lignans, and free amino acids such as g-aminobutyric acid (GABA), tyrosine, arginine, and glutamine.

Thanks to the sesquiterpenes, it masks the bad smell of the traces of valeric acid.

If you do not have pure valeric acid to have the honour of turning your stomach inside out by a minor whiff, then find a patient with foot-nail-fungus; borrow his socks; fill the socks with smashed seeds meal of sesame, peanuts, and hazelnuts, one gram of each, then add 1cc of tap water. Mix well inside socks while wearing surgical gloves and a nose-mask perfumed strongly with thymol. Close experiment inside a polyethylene bag and leave experiment in a warm place, away from dogs. After 24 hours, open the bag on your responsibility.

[EL]

Perhaps it's present in such small quantities that you can't really smell it or taste it. Also' date=' the taste/smell of it is likely masked pretty well by the lemongrass that is also present in this tea (which tastes very good). I doubt there's more than 15 mg of valeric acid in each tea bag. I actually think the roots of the valerian plant may also contain some esters of valeric acid in addition to the acid itself. I'd have to look it up.

 

I think some of the herbal pills that have a stronger effect than the tea contain potassium valerate as the active ingredient

 

I have been wondering about what it does in the body to make a person sleepy.[/quote']

 

Lucky you, the tea is already processed and to pin down the ingredients, the manufacturer partly digests the cellulose cell walls by NaOH, hence converting the volatile acid to a non-volatile salt. The excess NaOH is then titrated by HCl to pH 7 and the tea is dried and packed.

I assure you, that if you could smell that pentanoic sh&t, you would not risk a single sip.

[H2SO4]

Good: the smell of your hands after youve been working with metal (copper especialy). Its kinda wierd metals have smells?Theres more chemical things i like, like isopropyl alcohol (in small doses, otherwise it burns your nose) but theres to many to list.

 

Bad: Sulfur Dioxide, the smell of your bleaching, dying skin after you get conc. H2O2 on it. some plastics smell good, but burning plastics are awful.

 

 

I expierence ozone when i took apart a plasma ball and set up a 1/4 inch arc across some metal and got a good whiff of the ozone. It smells like the ocean kinda, alittle, kinda fresh smell. conc. HCl is got to one of the worst ( i got a good whoof of my muriatic the first time i open it, i mean for gods sake the stuff is so conc. its green!

[Nevermore]

I must be a freak, but I like the smell of sulfer.

[latentheat]

Lucky you' date=' the tea is already processed and to pin down the ingredients, the manufacturer partly digests the cellulose cell walls by NaOH, hence converting the volatile acid to a non-volatile salt. The excess NaOH is then titrated by HCl to pH 7 and the tea is dried and packed.

I assure you, that if you could smell that pentanoic sh&t, you would not risk a single sip.[/quote']

 

So I'm really drinking sodium valerate. If the acid really smells as bad as you guys say, I'm glad about that.

[H2SO4]

nevermore, i love the smell of sulfur, but not sulfur compounds. Sadly though, because i use sulfur so much, i can barely smell it anymore.

[woelen]

<snipped>

conc. HCl is got to one of the worst ( i got a good whoof of my muriatic the first time i open it' date=' i mean for gods sake the stuff is so conc. its green![/quote']

A little off-topic, but for "H2SO4": Concentrated HCl is completely colorless. The green color is not due to high concentration, but it is due to impuritues. I have 37-38% HCl, which fumes heavily and even has some overpressure in the bottle on warm days, but this stuff is perfectly colorless, like water. The acid is reagent grade.

 

Technical concentrated HCl (30+ %) frequently is yellow/green. In its production process, some organics may enter the liquid and certain metal ions may get into the liquid (most notably iron).

 

OK, let's go back on topic

[H2SO4]

how was my post of topic. I said i got a whiff of conc. HCl and it stunk....so idk how my post was off topic. Maybe yours was. Maybe you were talkinga bout your post. IDK. This post is of topic, to bring it on topic, gasoline smells great.

[EL]

how was my post of topic. I said i got a whiff of conc. HCl and it stunk....so idk how my post was off topic. Maybe yours was. Maybe you were talkinga bout your post. IDK. This post is of topic, to bring it on topic, gasoline smells great.

 

Commercial gasoline, such as what you fuel your car with, is in fact a mixture and the higher the octane number the more expensive it is. That is why the smell will not be consistent unless you specify the components of that mixture and their percentage.

Hexane upwards are acceptable, it is when pentane and butane increase that we feel heavy on breathing.

Propane, ethane and methane are not to be fiddled with, they can kill you, do not experiment to smell them intentionally; especially while you are sleeping.

[YT2095]

yeah, Hypoxia isn`t pleasant.

[woelen]

how was my post of topic. I said i got a whiff of conc. HCl and it stunk....so idk how my post was off topic. Maybe yours was. Maybe you were talkinga bout your post. IDK. This post is of topic, to bring it on topic, gasoline smells great.

Sorry for the misunderstaning. MY post was off-topic, not yours

[akcapr]

ive heard of this one guy i ngermany who dies of his own methane. he was in a small hotel room, with windows closed, and ate alot of beans and cabbage, and wen ppl found him he was dead with very high levels of methane in the room and his blood. i thiunk they even used gas masks to go in.

[jdurg]

That would be virtually impossible. I'm pretty much going to guarantee you that it is a made up/exaggerated Urban Legned.

[H2SO4]

dude, wow, how could you believe that?

[YT2095]

good thing he wasn`t a Smoker, they`de have put it down to spontanious human combustion instead )))

[H2SO4]

lol, those myths are hilarious.